I was wondering about storing dirty clothes in large ziploc bags. If you couldn't clean the dirty clothes within a day or two of putting them in the bag, would they get dirtier or full of mildew? This is assuming the clothes weren't already wet or muddy.
Thanks!
I use one of the medium sized compression bags, larger than a gallon sized zip lock and go several days accumulating dirty socks and underwear with no problem.
I've been told that there is nothing worse than opening a plastic bag full of smelly dirty clothes...
have you thought about those mesh laundry bags?? thats something that was suggested to me :) lets the clothes breathe :)
Plastic bags trigger smell, but for a day or two it can't be that bad.
I meant bad smell.
I bring a few big zip lock bags in my bag. They come in handy often. I use one to seperate wet things from the rest of my luggage and another to seperate dirty clothes. A mesh bag will allow your clean clothes to get stinky and/or wet.
A zip lock bag is also my washing machine for socks, underwear and the occasional T-shirt. Put dirty clothes, very little detergent and some warm, hot or cold water (depending on what you're washing). Shake well, drain, add rinse water, shake, drain, repeat rinsing until no more soap suds are draining out. Then wring your clothes (I use a car chamois because it absorbs a lot of water and wrings nearly dry) and hang them overnight to dry (provided you packed the right kind of clothes).
I still like to use a self service laundry about once per trip to give everything a good wash but this works well for a small daily load.
We use one or two large plastic bags from stores such as Sears, Penney's, Kohl's, etc., but we don't seal them. That way, the dirty clothes are separate, but they are able to dry out and air out pretty well. However, I do like the previously mentioned laundry-in-a-Ziploc. Great idea.
First off -- you NEVER want to pack clothes that are wet or even damp unless it is the home leg. Second, we carry a couple of small mesh bags. The dirty clothes go into the mesh bags even if a little damp. Unless there is a need for everything to be inside our bags, the mesh bags can be tied to the outside of the bags. If the dirty clothes need to be packed inside the bags then we use the 12 gal white kitchen trash bags. But generally that is only on the leg home.
We got one of those collapsable, mesh-sided laundry hampers for piling dirty duds in. I think we paid a whole dollar for it at Walgreens. If we decide to hit a laundromat, we carry it with us. The thing doesn't take up much space in the luggage, either.
Thank you all for the responses. I have used mesh bags in the past to separate the clean and dirty clothes and found myself worrying if the mesh bags kept the clean clothes from getting smelly or dirty. And thank you for the laundry tip, Brad. I may just try that with some of my handwash clothes at home as well.
When I travel domesticlly, I always take the laundry bags in the hotel room that are there in case you want the hotel to do your wash.
When I go to Europe, I take a couple to keep my dirty clothes in.
When I say pack wet things, it's for those times whent we have wet swimwear and can't get it completely dry before traveling. It gets pulled out and hung up as soon as we get somewhere, but I don't want to put it with other dirties because those might be in a bag for a day or two.
I also pack fabric softener sheets to keep things smelling a little better. Febreze also works wonders.
I just had to add this bit about packing dirty clothes at the top of your suitcase. A friend who travels a lot and brings back lots of goodies, decided she would pack her dirty clothes in Ziploc bags and put them all on the top where they would be visible. One customs guy opened a bag without thinking and immediately put it back in the suitcase and closed the bag! She remained serene and laughed her head off as she walked away.
So it could be helpful on the way back home!
Dirty clothes in mesh or Zips for us if it's not more than a day or two.
I always carry ziplocks for dirty clothes and 100 other uses. You don't want your dirty clothes just mingling with the clean. You can also do a bit of quick washing in a ziplock. I also pack my clean clothes in seperate bags with a dryer sheet in it to add freshness.
Thanks for the extra tips! I like the idea of using Febreze and dryer sheets... It makes sense that Febreze would help since it helps the couch smell so much better. I think I've even seen small travel size versions and dryer sheets. And the story about stopping the search at the airport cause the dirty clothes were at the top of the bag... That's great. :)
